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8/2/2019 AVRI Poster

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The Venomous Snakes of Sri Lanka

Spectacled cobra

Common krait

green pit viper

hump-nosed viper

saw-scaled viper

Sri lankan krait

Snakes in Sri lankan culture

Trimeresurus trigonocephalus

Daboia russelii (Shaw & Nodder, 1797)

Bungarus caeruleus (Schneider, 1801)

Hypnale hypnale

Hypnale nepa

Hypnale zara

Echis carinatus (Schneider, 1801)

Bungarus ceylonicus (Günther, 1864)

Russell’s Viper

Sri Lankan Coral SnakesCalliophis Spp.

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alleviating world wide suffering caused by animal envenomation

/ lAk`@V ì;sµw sRpûN, y§ifÆ±c´s É\Kila gh«òf´

Naja naja (Linnaeus, 1758)

Description: Family Elapidae.Terrestrial. Diurnaland noctur-

nal.When threatened,expandshoodwhich hastwo eye-like

spotsventrally and a'spectacle'marking dorsally.Length up

to 2.2 m.Distribution:ThroughoutSriLankaup to 1500 m above sealevel.

Toxicity: Responsible formany snakebite deathsin SriLanka.

Venom containspotent neurotoxinsthat cause respiratoryparalysisand severe localnecrosis.

ny` / n`gy`e±y gh«ò / ehf gh«ò

Description: Family Viperidae.Subfami ly Viperinae,a true viper.Terrestrial.Usuallynocturnal.Body colourlight brownish grey with a series of 20-30 lightrusset oval

spotsoutlined by dark brown along spine.Hisses loudly when threatened.Quick to

bite.Length up to 1.5 m.

Distribution:Primarily Dry Zone but also found in Wet and intermediate zonesto 1500 m above sea level. Common in agricultural areas.

Toxicity: Responsible for the majority of snake bite mortalities in Sri Lanka.Envenoming leads to local eects, coagulopathy, acute renal failure, neurotox-icity, and multiple organ failure.

ñW @p`]<`f©Zho åÇa¬

Description: Family Viperidae.

Subfamily Crotalinae. Arboreal.

Triangularhead with lorealpit.Body

colour generally emerald green

with black hourglass-shaped mark-ings along spine. Light green to

grey ventrally.Length upto 1.5 m.

p]` @p`]<`

nfh¥¾ åÇa¬Distribution: Endemic to Sri

Lanka. Wet and Dry zones up to

about 1300 m above sea level.Favours low shrubs.

Toxicity: Envenomingcauses localpain,swelling, blisters,lymph gland

enlargement. Can cause coagulation imbal-

ances.Actualeectsof venomneedinvestiga-

tion.Medical attentionrecommended.

(Sonnini & Latreille, 1801)

/ g¢ir åÇa¬

@wL krvl` / mgmr#v`

v©bz åÇa¬ / f£LåÇa¬Description:Family Elapidae.Terrestrial.Nocturnal.Identied by black dorsal

colourwith 20-25 narrow,pairedwhite bandsalong body.Has ahexagonal,

enlargedvertebral scale row.The white bands can become indistinctin large

individuals.Length up to 1.5 m.

Distribution: Primarily in Dry Zone but also known from the intermediatezone.Common aroundhuman habitation andin agriculturalareas.

Toxicity: Responsible fornumerousdeaths.Biteshave minimallocalsigns

andeects leading to possible misdiagnosis.Venom containspotentneuro-toxinsthat can cause respiratory failure.

ËÚ krvl` / hW krvl` / ÚÐ krvl`v©bz åÇa¬ / v£lo åÇa¬

Description: Family Elapidae. Terrestrial.

Nocturnal. Black-coloured dorsally with

15-28 relatively wide, isolated white

bands. Possesses hexagonal, enlarged

vertebrals cale row.The white bands may

become indistinct in large individuals.Length upto 1.5m.

Distribution: Endemic to Sri Lanka.

Confined to Wet Zone up to 1000 m

above sea level.

Toxicity: Bites on humans uncommon.So far only a single fatal case is known.

Venom contains potent neurotoxins that

can cause respiratory failure.

Ázkév` / @p`@]`N@w˜Ss`

Hypnale Spp.

nfh¥¾ åÇa¬ / FÊ åÇa¬

Description: Family Viperidae.Subfamily Crotalinae.

Three speciesin Sri Lankathat are both nocturnaland

diurnal.Triangular head,lorealpit located between

eye andnostril,and large scalescovering the topof

head.Length up to 50 cm.

Toxicity: Hump-nosed vipers cause the highest

numberof snake bite morbidities in SriLanka. Enven-

oming leads to severe local necrosis, coagulopathy,

andacute renalfailure.Lethalenvenoming hasbeen

reported.

Merrem’shump-nosedviper

Hypnale hypnale (Merrem,1820):

Mainlydistributedin DryZone and low

land Wet Zone.Common aroundhumanhabitations,coconut and rubberplanta-

tions.

Hypnale zara (Gray, 1849):

Endemicto Sri Lanka.WetZone forestsonly.

Clinicalfeatures of envenomation unknown.Human bitesuncommon.

Hypnale nepa (Laurenti, 1768):Endemic to SriLa nka.Generally restrictedto

habitats within 1250-1850 m contours.

Common in tea estates and surrounding

forests. Clinical features of envenomation

unknown.Human bitesrare.

@qpWkUv`gts¥ gh«òDescription: Family Elapidae.Two speciesof Coralsnakesare foundin Sri Lanka.

Terrestrial.Infrequently encountered. Found under the leaf litter, logs and stones.

Length upto 25 cm.

Distribution: Endemicto SriLanka. Lowland Wet,Dry, and intermediate zones.

Bloody-ventedknown only from the KnucklesRange and WasgomuwaN.P.

Toxicity: Unknown. Eects of envenomation also unknown. No human mortality

reportedso far.

Narrowcylindric albody with indis-

tinctneck. Pale brown dorsally with

ablack-c olouredhead. Black bands

on the tail.

Narrow cylindr ical body

with indistinct neck.Pale

brown dorsally with 13-22

black bands. Bluish tailand redbel l y. A newl y-

discoveredspecies.

Bloody-vented CoralSnake

CalliophishaematoetronSmith et. al, 2008

bdró @qpWkUv`

SriLankan CoralSnake

Calliophismelanurussinhaleyus

Deraniyagala, 1951

/ lAk` @qpWkUv`

v#Ä @p`]<`RU£il gh«ò

Description: Family Viperidae.Subfamily Viperinae,atrue viper.Terrestrial.Generally

nocturnal.Sandy-brown dorsally with aseriesof darkerovoidmarkingsoutlinedby

lightercolour along spine.Cross-shapedmark on crown.Length upto about30 cm.

Distribution: Aridnorthwest andeastern coastalplains.

Toxicity:Bitescommon in the coastalareas. The venom causeslocal eects,coagul-

opathy,and acute renalfailure. Even though thissnake isclassied ashighly venom-

ous,there have so farbeen no reportedlethalenvenomations in SriLanka.

The cobrais an iconic snake in Sri Lanka with ties to Buddhistand Hindu Culture.The Hindu religion views cobrasas nature spiritsthat bring rain and fertility andare only

malevolentwhen mistreated.In Buddhisttradition, ashape-c hanging being calledMuchalinda took the form of acobra andsheltered the meditating Buddhafrom astorm

with its hood.SriLankahasarich history of respecttowardsthe naturalworld.Itis recordedin historicaldocumentsthatKing Buddhadasa(340-368 AC),stoppedhisentou-

rage to perform surgery on acobra (Najanaja).During hisreign he promotedveterinary care (Photosby Kimberly McWhorter,from left- Imagesof LordBuddha anda cobra

on the wallinsi de the Temple of the Tooth,Sri DaladaMaligawa, Kandy,Sri Lanka; LordBuddha andMuchalinda; a painting of King Buddhadasa by PrasannaWeerakkody,

from the collection of Dr.Nalin Perera;poster background- LordBuddhastatue in Sri DaladaMaligawa).

© 2011 AVRI- Textby Dr.KalanaMaduwage andKim berly McWhorter.Edited by AsokaC.Yapa

*Hump-nosed viper photos by Dr.

KalanaMaduwage

*Leftand toprightphotosby Kimberly McWhorter,bottomrightby Sanath Velarathna

Other Venomous Snakes

in SriLanka

This poster illustrates thedangerously venomous

snake speciesthatoccuron

the islandof S r iLanka. I t

does not include the sea

snakes,bitesof allof which

are potentially lethal toh um an s. O th er m il dl y

venomous colubrid l and

snakes were also not

included.

*Photo by M.Bahir, courtesyK.Manamendra-Aaratchchi

*Topleft andright photosby Sanath Velarathna,bottom

by Dr.Kalana Maduwage

*Photosby Sanath Velarathna





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